Native Next.js Support for Next-Level DX

A headless CMS, as opposed to a traditional CMS, omits the frontend and is not bound by a specific delivery channel, such as a website. There is no presentation, no frontend development toolset out-of-the-box. In other words, there is no head – hence the name. In a headless platform, the content is made available via APIs and you can have anything on the receiving end: websites, mobile apps, AR and IoT devices and various integrations with third-party systems.

Unlike Headless, a Decoupled CMS has kept the publishing tools of traditional content management, meaning it has an inherent presentation layer and frontend components are available right out of the box, which is why it's referred to as hybrid. A hybrid headless CMS has an architecture that clearly separates the management and storage of content from the pages and templates that display it. That is to say, the frontend is decoupled from the backend. The two layers communicate via APIs, which expose the content to one or many consumers, from websites that can be developed with the built-in toolset (pages, widgets, templates) to various platforms and frontend frameworks that can consume the data in the API responses.

Sitefinity allows adopters to choose the frontend technology that best fits their specific needs and business model. Alongside the built-in presentation, Sitefinity natively supports multiple decoupled frontend applications. A renderer application built on ASP.NET Core and a Next.js renderer are available out of the box. The supported frontend technologies have complete feature parity in widget design and templating, while business users enjoy a seamless visual content management experience in the patented technology-agnostic editor. The Next.js frontend is hosted out-of-the-box in Sitefinity SaaS with self-hosting options available as well.

Stand-alone renderer apps allow extra flexibility developing for various projects and purposes and enable adopters to make the most of their tech stack and available dev talent. An API-first platform like Sitefinity can be deployed in classic web content management implementation and deliver experiences through the built-in web channel, complete with user-friendly drag-and-drop page building and WYSIWYG content editing. At the same time, the content and layout APIs can deliver content to multiple frontends in headless scenarios, with all the built-in publishing capabilities available to content creators, including templating and personalization.

React is a popular, powerful framework used by industry leaders to build rich user interfaces for both web and mobile quickly and easily. Sitefinity provides fast, flexible, and developer-friendly access to powerful API’s and can serve as a headless backend delivering structured content to your React frontend. Supported renderers, including React, are fully integrated with Sitefinity content management, allowing content creators to leverage drag-and-drop page building and personalization without relying on IT.

Sitefinity has all the essential publishing tools of a traditional CMS with the added benefit of decoupled architecture and API-first approach to content delivery. Sitefinity comes with powerful, well-documented and standard-compliant REST APIs for content, layout, and personalization. The GraphQL protocol is also supported, fully integrated with the existing user interface for managing REST. A starter kit of React components is available, seamlessly integrated with the popular KendoReact library.